Q: For whatever reason which Allah (Ta’ala) knows best I woke up for fajr salaah a bit later than usuall i.e. within permissible time but not enough to make it to the masjid as I felt I could miss the Jamaah and fall within an impermissible tome. I commenced with salaah and performed a short but not hesty salaah with Jamaah at home. I had completed salaah and tasbih* and dua by 04:35am- 20/12/2015-durban. Latest Jamaat commencment time in locality is at 04:25 (Masjid is Al-Hilal)- did my salaah fall within the permissible time and was my decision to perform salaah at home with jamaat at home valid on grounds that I could have missed salaah and permissible time completely had I driven to the masjid. Note that we follow the Shafi’i Madhab so the duration of salaah included dua e qunoot which was incumbent on me as the imam leading salaah.
A: Your namaaz is valid since your namaaz had ended before sunrise and your decision was right. Had you gone to the musjid you would have missed the jamaat.
And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
Answered by:
Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)